OTTUMWA —
The Wapello County Board of Supervisors decided they need more time to decide how much, if any, funding they will give to First Resources for Hope House, a treatment facility aimed at women and their children.
During this week’s board meeting, Supervisor Steve Siegel said these treatment programs are successful, but funding is always an issue.
“Our hope is to save the community money,” said Cathy Pringle, clinical supervisor of substance abuse at First Resources. “We won’t be transporting people to other agencies.
First Resources requested $63,000 from the supervisors, though that’s only half the funding they need. Associate director Lorraine Uehling-Techel said the center should be able to take eight to nine women at any given time.
“Substance abuse mimics mental health when it’s coming down,” Pringle said.
Long-term treatment works, she said, because it deals with both the substance abuse and the mental health problems and gives the individual coping, life and parenting skills.
Traditional 30-day programs “only clear their head of drugs,” Pringle said, instead of keeping them longer and letting them fully heal.
The problem, she said, is that insurance companies don’t recognize the need for long-term treatment.
“For the first 30 days we’re covered,” Uehling-Techel said, though the problem is in securing funding to cover treatment beyond those 30 days.
She said it’s hard to project how many residents could come from Wapello County.
“I assume if we have an open bed, it’s first-come, first-served,” she said.
Siegel asked if they were considering any other funding sources. Officials said they are looking into local foundations, the Iowa Department of Public Health, as well as speaking with a U.S. Sen. Tom Harkin aide next week and in two years a Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) grant will open up.
“We know ORHC made a commitment to do something with substance abuse,” Uehling-Techel said. “We’re still wrapping our heads around what that is.”
The difficulty, Supervisor Jerry Parker said, is in the fact that if it’s an ongoing, annual expenditure, “I would say it’s impossible.”
“If we did give, it would be a one-shot deal,” he said.
Siegel said there’s a willingness among the supervisors to help, they just need to study the matter further to determine how much they would be able to fund.
In other business, the supervisors:
• Approved 2-1 a request for payroll approval of the hire of Zachary Archer to the position of correctional officer with the Wapello County Sheriff’s Office.
Parker was concerned that there were other Wapello County applicants who did not make the cut, since Archer is not from the area, and voted against the payroll approval.
“It’s important to us that he was the best applicant we feel we have at the time,” said Wapello County Chief Sheriff’s Deputy Mark Miller.
• Approved a $1,000 contribution to the Ottumwa Boxing Club and an extension of its 28E agreement with Southeast Iowa Case Management to June 30, 2013.
Local News
September 19, 2012
Finding the funding for Hope House
County supervisors table request for funding of treatment facility
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